Cracks and Thorns

JosephTree

JosephTree

Barefooters
Sep 7, 2010
2,526
1,871
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Near Valley Forge, PA
#1
2 questions:

#1. Does anyone else out there ever get vicious heel callous cracks? Any soverign remedies?

#2. I picked up 2 thorns while running today. I think they were from Multiflora rose. After an initial few feet of hopping, they weren't too bad and I finished my run just fine. My question is - do feet reach a point sometime down the line where such inconveniences don't bother them?
 
#2
1: I had a major crack in my

1: I had a major crack in my heel this summer. I took frequent foot baths with some kind of salt in them and rested once it finally got deep enough from me ignoring it that I couldn't run. I was fine a week later. Not exactly a miracle remedy but it's made me a lot more vigilant when it comes to foot care. I file off any excess dead skin around the edges of my heels now, I used to just leave it alone thinking running barefoot would take care of it for me.

2: Haven't encountered any thorns yet. I did, however, run for a few days wih a piece of glass stuck in my heel. I couldn't figure out why that "pebble" I stepped on still hurt after a week so I started digging and found a tiny sliver of glass.
 
#3
No cracking here.Since

No cracking here.

Since starting in January... I have noticed that my feet are much more tolerant of things that I step on. It seems that "how" the object is stepped on has a lot to do with how it feels though. Haven't been punctured yet, so I can't speak to that. I did get a little rock stuck under my skin one day though... it wasn't comfortable so I had to dig it out.
 
#4
I think maintenance of the

I think maintenance of the callous buildup will be the solution. Not very sexy, but that's all I've heard and read that seems to make sense, so far.

The thorns today were both in my left toe pads. I must have tried to curl my toes around a cane as I ran.
 
#5
Just be glad you don't have

Just be glad you don't have goatheads, they're almost impossible to avoid. There might be a point where they don't bug anymore, and they do bug a lot less now than they used to, but I haven't gotten there yet. On one of my earlier runs I actually ran through a bunch without any trouble, maybe because my feet were tougher due to crappy form. So yeah, theres probably a point where stuff stops being a problem.
 
#6
OMG Danjo we have the

OMG Danjo we have the medieval goatheads here too which is one of the reasons I was chicken to go BF at first! I have only stepped on two so far (my mileage is super low though) and it's true that as we run BF we are more responsive to what we're landing on. First one didn't get very far into my flesh and I was able to stop and pick it out. Another time, one was stuck to the tip of my big toe and I didn't even discover it until I was done running.

Heel cracking is fairly easy to get under control if you sand or slough the heels every time you shower. Also, some kind of oil or emollient right after the shower will help with moisture retention, that is if you're not too proud. Don't use petroleum based products as they dry skin out even more. Cocoa butter is cheap and natural.
 
#7
 I can get cracked

I can get cracked heels....cracked heel lotion applied liberally in the AM and in the PM solves the problem for me pretty quickly...and then I forget about it, until it happens again....but if I remember, and apply lotion in the AM after a shower, they don't come back.
 
#8
I used to get vicious heel

I used to get vicious heel cracking. I got them until I overhauled my diet and started eating alot more saturated fat and alot less crap.
 
#9
Use a thick skin gel, like

Use a thick skin gel, like petroleum jelly, coconut oil, cocoa butter, or aquaphor, and rub it liberally all over the affected area. Place your foot (or feet) into plastic shopping bags, then put your socks on (over the bags), and sleep that way. Remove everything the next day to let it air out and heal quicker. Keep doing this until you're better. You will be amazed at how quickly you will heal.

I saw a video about a guy who had conditioned his plantar skin so well that he could stick a needle all the way through the deep layers of skin on his feet. So, yes, with time and conditioning, you can tolerate some pretty serious stuff.
 
#11
You have to wear the plastic

You have to wear the plastic bags to keep your feet moist and to keep the gel against your skin, so it can be absorbed. If you just wear socks over the gel, then the socks will absorb most of the gel, and the gel will leak through and get everything all nasty. If you have to, you can even use ace bandages to wrap around your socks to secure the bags to your feet, but the socks should hold the bags on well enough, especially if they are knee-high.
 
#12
Foot file and Jojoba!Heel

Foot file and Jojoba!

Heel cracks are easily prevented with regular sanding of rough heel edges. (though this is actually LESS of a problem since I ditched the foot coffins!)

The trick is to sand your hard dry skin while your feet are DRY! (before the shower)

Make a foot file by gluing 80 grit sandpaper to a long thin piece of wood (those really big paint stirrers work well)

I actually have a finer-grit (120 I think) "finishing file" too, which doubles as a toenail file.

Usually after the shower, while still damp, I apply some pure jojoba to my feet. It absorbs quite well in a few minutes, apparently mimics human sebum quite well, and doesn't stain my bathroom rug (My wife is especially fond of that feature)

Shoddies are always amazed by how un-calloused my feet are! (But they usually are more surprized by the broad toe spread and chubby, leathery thick soles of my "flintstone feet")
 
#13
Multiflora rose, however...

Multiflora rose, however... That is a beast I just do my best to avoid. Like poison ivy, I treat it as if it were a live rattlesnake! I hope that someday my feet will be tough enough to withstand rosebushes, but I'm guessing for now, I'll just have to rely on my eyes and coordination for pure avoidance.
 
#14
I get the heel fissures as

I get the heel fissures as well. I've had good luck with Vaseline, but have yet to actually heal them 100% (I haven't done the plastic bag thing, so maybe that's what I'm missing). I did notice better results when I applied the Vaseline and then covered the area with Nexcare tape.
 
#15
Thorns seriosly suck, man! I

Thorns seriosly suck, man! I walk across my neighbor's lawn to/form my walks & runs and they have some kind of little needle-like thorns in their yard, scattered among the soft mossy ground. Every single time I get at least one wedged in my foot. It doesn't hurt like when I was a tenderfoot, but it stings and they have to be plucked out of my skin or they'll hang out & imbed themselves.

I'm sure after a while thorns would get less annoying with skin conditioning, but I'm not sure that would mean thorns wouldn't STICK in the skin anymore??? Donno.
 
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